Men of the Harem (137 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 3
Hyacinth made a pitiful, sweet sound and wore a sorrowful expression.
“La Til. I know you’re angry. But please don’t be so cold toward me. Please… I felt like my heart was tearing apart all this time, and if you get mad at me the moment we meet again…”
“Four minutes left.”
La Til firmly cut off his rambling. Though Hyacinth’s voice was as pleasant to hear as memories of the past, even sweet music must be heard at the right moment to be truly appreciated. Right now, even if Hyacinth sang like an angel, it would only annoy her.
“Three minutes thirty seconds.”
“……”
When La Til firmly announced the remaining time, Hyacinth sighed with a resigned expression.
“Alright. I’ll talk. Prince Heum’s rebellion was stronger than we expected. Duke Daga, the most powerful among them, supported Heum.”
“Duke Daga?”
What? That familiar name—it was the same house mentioned in the invitation.
Aini Tur La Daga.
Yes. Definitely the name from the invitation. She couldn’t forget it—it was the name of the woman Hyacinth was supposed to marry.
The House of Daga belonged to that woman. Yet now Hyacinth was saying that his fiancée’s family supported Prince Heum?
“I needed Duke Daga to suppress Heum. So I tried to persuade him, and Duke Daga gave me a condition—he asked that I take his only daughter, Aini Tur La Daga, as my empress.”
“……”
When La Til stayed silent and stared firmly at him, Hyacinth made a pitiful face. His usually rich and expressive features—ones that had always amazed La Til—now tilted heavily toward sorrow.
“La Til.”
One step. Hyacinth quietly approached, pulled La Til tightly into his embrace, and held her firmly. His warmth was unchanged from before—painfully so.
“I’m sorry. Truly sorry.”
“……It’s fine. Don’t apologize. You simply chose yourself over me. You valued your glory more than our love, and I won’t condemn you for that. Everyone puts themselves first, after all.”
“La Til……”
Hyacinth looked at her with trembling eyes, seemingly touched by her magnanimous words. In that moment, La Til firmly stomped on his foot.
“Ugh!”
Hyacinth let out a sharp cry and quickly pulled his foot away.
La Til watched him with an annoyed huff. She really could’ve used heels right now. She regretted wearing comfortable shoes for travel—she should’ve changed footwear right at the entrance!
“Don’t get touched. Just because I’m not blaming you doesn’t mean I’m not angry. No matter your reasons, the result is that I was abandoned.”
Hyacinth’s expression turned pained again.
“La Til… please don’t say it like that.”
His voice pleaded, filled with genuine anguish. His words and expression seemed so sincere that La Til felt uncomfortable.
“Don’t say it like this? What exactly shouldn’t I say? It’s the truth—what do you expect me to do? That you couldn’t send letters because of war? Don’t make excuses. Couldn’t you have told me after the war ended? Did I really have to hear about your marriage through a wedding envoy?”
“La Til, I still don’t know who among my court remains loyal to Heum. Even though I won, my position is still unstable.”
“!”
“Duke Daga is the same. At the very least, he knows I won’t let anyone betray his daughter. Everyone’s watching closely, and I don’t even know who the spies are. In that situation, I couldn’t send letters.”
“So saying we’re breaking up might also be intercepted by a spy? Would letting spies know that somehow benefit Heum’s remnants?”
“……”
“Duke Daga? If he saw that letter, wouldn’t he be pleased rather than upset?”
Hyacinth gazed at La Til with watery eyes—the kind that said, “No matter what you say, I love you.”
La Til pushed him away firmly. She still liked his familiar scent and soft skin, but that was where it ended.
He was the kind of person she had to push away, no matter how much she liked him.
Thankfully, she didn’t feel like crying. La Til repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists.
“Fine. Now I clearly understand your ‘explanation’—I’ll leave. I can’t wish you well, though. And even if I do later, as head of the envoy delegation, don’t believe me. It’ll just be empty words.”
La Til spun around abruptly. But before she could take a few steps, Hyacinth grabbed her arm and clung to her.
“Please, La Til. Don’t say such painful things. I didn’t call you here to break up.”
“Then… to apologize?”
“I love you.”
What on earth was this guy saying? At Hyacinth’s earnest confession, La Til’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Love?”
“La Til, you’re the only one I love. So… just five years. Please wait for me just five years.”
“What?”
La Til gave a hollow laugh and stared at him.
“If I wait five years, will things change?”
She was being sarcastic—but Hyacinth nodded firmly.
“They will. In five years, I can break Duke Daga’s power and eliminate all of Heum’s remnants. I’ll solidify my foundation and establish a stable monarchy.”
Yet even his firm confidence couldn’t sway La Til’s heart. She remained cold.
“And then? What do I gain by waiting five years? During the succession struggle, you’ll probably take concubines for political reasons. Am I supposed to endure the same shock I felt hearing about your marriage—over and over for five years—just to gain what exactly?”
“I won’t share chambers with any political concubines—or even with Aini Daga. If you want, I’ll swear an oath at the temple. No, I won’t even touch her with a fingertip. And after five years, I’ll send them all away.”
This time, she wavered slightly. La Til stared at him, unable to answer immediately.
Oaths made at the temple had to be taken very seriously. Anyone who lied during a temple oath risked divine punishment—the gods hated being invoked in falsehoods.
‘So he’s not just lying through his teeth this time.’
But Hyacinth’s words still had glaring holes. La Til let out a sigh and pointed them out one by one.
“Fine, maybe you can send away the concubines. But what about divorcing the empress? You said Duke Daga is powerful—as the family that produced an empress, his influence will only grow. Do you really think that family—and an empress from that house—will obediently leave just because you dethrone her five years from now? Will she really become so weak she’ll willingly step down from the empress’s seat?”
But again, Hyacinth answered firmly.
“It’s enough.”
“Is that arrogance or overconfidence?”
“Please, La Til. You’re the only one I love. You’re the only one I want to build a future and a family with. You know that, right?”
Foolishly, La Til couldn’t answer. It wasn’t easy to reject the tearful plea of a man she’d loved for years.
How many years had she spent praying for him? And this man still loved her—just as she still loved him.
“……No.”
But still, La Til couldn’t accept Hyacinth.
“La Til.”
Hyacinth looked at her with utter disbelief. His eyes filled with shock.
“If it’s because you don’t trust me, then… yes, I understand. So I’ll swear on the temple. I’m serious. Please……”
“Let me be honest. I still love you too. But in five years, you’ll be another woman’s husband. Right now, Lady Aini has stepped between us—but in five years, you and she will be married, and I’ll be the outsider.”
“I’ll never love her.”
“Even if you don’t love her, she’ll still be your wife. I’ll just be a princess from a neighboring country. If we must part, it has to be now—before you marry. Are you really expecting me to be happy hearing you’ll abandon me five years after marriage?”
La Til spoke firmly and stepped backward. Though she’d wavered for a moment, she believed this was right.
Of course, she resented the woman who would become Hyacinth’s bride—not for who she was, but for her position. How could she possibly feel good about someone casually taking the man she’d loved wholeheartedly for years?
Yet separately, she didn’t agree that Aini Daga should be discarded and deposed after five years.
Aini Daga hadn’t schemed to steal Hyacinth—Hyacinth had made a deal with her to become emperor. (Admittedly, he might have died if he hadn’t.)
But after willingly striking that deal himself, how could he now promise divorce in five years?
“La Til, please.”
Tears spilled from Hyacinth’s eyes. He collapsed to his knees. Tears streamed down his beautiful face, and La Til’s heart crumbled at the sight.
“Even if you won’t take me back, I can’t love anyone else, La Til. You know that. Please……”
La Til shook her head and fled the room as if escaping.
[This is the timeline separator]“Your Highness. Are you alright?”
Back in her quarters, La Til stared blankly out the window, prompting the Captain of the Royal Guard to ask cautiously.
“No……”
La Til replied weakly and pressed her forehead against the windowsill like a sick chick. The sill was cool, but her heart remained tangled.
Pure anger would have been easier to bear. Now, a tangle of emotions made everything harder.
Moreover, Hyacinth’s words kept echoing in her ears, each time tempting her with a whisper of “So what if it’s true?”
Earlier, she’d been certain Lady Aini hadn’t schemed to steal Hyacinth—but now she wondered: if Duke Daga hadn’t supported Prince Heum’s rebellion in the first place, would Hyacinth have needed to make that deal at all?
“No. Even so, not five years.”
“Pardon?”
“There’s just no way.”
La Til groaned, forcing herself upright, and peeled off the cumbersome gloves she’d still been wearing.
Now that she noticed, she hadn’t changed her shoes or removed her cloak either—she’d returned from meeting Hyacinth so distracted that she was still in her travel clothes.
“Shall I call a maid to help you change?”
“Yes, please.”
The Captain stepped outside, saying he’d be back in a moment. But less than a minute later, he returned immediately, calling for La Til again.
“You’re back fast. What is it? No one available?”
La Til asked, and a troubled look crossed the Captain’s face. This wasn’t simply a matter of missing maids.
What now? La Til’s expression darkened in sympathy.
“What is it?”
“Lady Aini is at the door. She wishes to see Your Highness—what should we do?”
Lady Aini. Aini Daga. The fiancée of her ex-lover? That person wanted to see her? Why? And she was already at the door?
La Til scowled. She was already distressed over Hyacinth—must she really meet that woman too? She had no desire to.
Noticing her reluctance, the Captain offered,
“If Your Highness wishes, I can handle it myself.”
It was a good suggestion, but La Til declined.
“It’s fine. As head of the envoy delegation, I can’t avoid her forever anyway. Let her in.”
The Captain looked deeply unwilling, but answered, “Yes,” and stepped out again.
Moments later, a woman with elegantly pinned-up red hair entered the room.
It was incredibly irritating that her ex-lover’s fiancée turned out far more beautiful and enchanting than expected.
Aini, her dress flowing gracefully, was petite but held herself straight, her expression composed—every bit the well-bred noble lady.
‘Damn it.’
La Til clicked her tongue inwardly.
‘I haven’t even changed shoes or taken off my cloak yet.’
Instead of a dress, La Til wore a uniform similar to the knights’ but more ornate—adorned with golden piping and a gold-embroidered crest. Though fancy, the outfit had been worn for days, leaving it deeply wrinkled, with dirt still clinging to the hem of her trousers.
Maybe she should’ve asked the woman to come later. La Til regretted it inwardly, but couldn’t very well send her away now.
Hiding her emotions, La Til smiled and extended her hand.
“Pleased to meet you, Lady Aini.”
Male lead says he’s pregnant — and it’s female lead’s child
Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
__________
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Well, I expected that she would take concubines from other countries as they helped her with ascension.
The revenge against Hyacinth is quite harsh. A man wouldn’t expect something like that, especially one as narcissistic.
Well, it’s quite fun. It’s interesting and light to read. Feelings of the characters are exposed clearly. 👍🏻